Using Your iPhone as a Phone

Don’t forget, your iPhone is also a telephone. And not just a simple phone, but one that helps you, among other things, keep and organize your contacts, view records of calls you’ve made, manage numbers you call frequently, conduct calls with speakerphone and mute, and retrieve voicemail. In this chapter, you’ll take some time to discover just how your iPhone functions as a phone.

Your iPhone is an amazing device, almost a notebook computer in your pocket. You can take photos with it, use it with FaceTime to have a video chat, use it as a personal assistant, keep track of your errands and events, check your email, browse the Web, play music, read books, play games, and carry out countless other activities with additional apps.

But don’t forget, your iPhone is also a telephone. And not just a simple phone, but one that helps you, among other things, keep and organize your contacts, view records of calls you’ve made, manage numbers you call frequently, conduct calls with speakerphone and mute, and retrieve voicemail.

In this chapter, you’ll take some time to discover just how your iPhone functions as a phone.

Making Calls

Odds are you bought your iPhone on a multiyear contract with a cellular provider. If this is the case, your phone is likely ready to go.

TIP

If you don’t yet have a carrier, you’ll need to find one that supports the iPhone. For the most up-to-date information, visit the Apple support site and view carriers for your region (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937).

Once your iPhone has been activated with a carrier, you can make calls.

To make a call

Tap the Phone icon in your dock.

If the keypad is not visible, tap the Keypad button on the bottom of the screen .

tap and hold in the blue display area above the keypad to paste a number you’ve previously copied

or

use Siri or Voice Control to dial or call a contact (see Chapter 7, “Talking to Your iPhone”).

If you make a mistake, tap the delete button to back up.

When your number appears in the blue area, tap Call.

To redial a number you just called

Tap Keypad.

Tap Call to display the last number you dialed.

Tap Call again to place the call.

TIP

If the number you entered is one that is stored in your Contacts app, the screen will display that contact’s name and phone info under the number. (See Chapter 13, “Communicating,” to learn more about managing your contacts.)